


Unspoken Rule

by quartermasterandhisagent



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-11 22:30:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1178726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartermasterandhisagent/pseuds/quartermasterandhisagent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James Bond is not sure when he first makes that leap of faith--sometime during Skyfall, that much is certain--but he finds that he does not fall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unspoken Rule

James Bond is not sure when he first makes that leap of faith -- sometime during Skyfall, that much is certain--but he finds that he does not fall. He finds that Q is more than he could have ever expected. More than he knows he deserves, even as one of the top operatives of MI6.

Q is kind. He is patient. And he does not question Bond's judgement even when it defies logic, goes beyond reasonable assumptions. This level of trust they have built in the months since Skyfall goes beyond the trust that is required for a healthy working relationship between a Quartermaster and a double-oh. They both know this, even though neither one of them dares to broach the subject aloud.

Instead Q becomes the warm, quiet voice in James' ear. He is there to reassure James that the intel is correct, to be that extra pair of eyes and ears Bond had wished for on so many occasions before but didn't trust himself enough to request. James knows that people will talk at MI6, how the great double-oh seven is suddenly attached to the hip to the new Quartermaster but he finds that he does not care.

He does not care if his co-workers think him too old to do his job himself, without assistance. He does not care if all of MI6 knows the sole reason he brings back his equipment mostly in-tact, and comes back with significantly less injuries than ever before is that Q keeps him safe.

Q for his part doesn't mind the talk either. He mostly tunes it out, because he knows that James is more than competent at his job despite the jab he made that first day at the National Gallery about his age. The man is shockingly quick to pick up new knowledge, new skills--something he learned the day Silva escaped, when James figured out the key to Silva's computer before he himself did. He enjoys his work, even if it means he puts in extra hours because despite the miraculous improvements to his return rate, James Bond is still double-oh seven and causes hell wherever he goes.

What no one talks about, perhaps because the two of them keep it to themselves, is what happens between missions. As the work day comes to a close, and other MI6 employees begin to leave for the day, James finds himself wandering down to Q branch. When there's some crises or another halfway around the world, and most of Q branch hasn't even noticed the sun has begun to set (or that it did hours ago) James simply pulls up the chair that Q branch has conveniently set aside for him and waits. He waits until everything has quieted, and Q can finally shut down his station and pack his bag for the night, weary and exhausted. On nights like that, James is allowed to drive Q home, neither one saying anything the entire time.

Other times, when the world has decided not to collapse in on itself, James sneaks takeaway down to Q Branch to make sure Q has had at least one meal in him. They sit together, eating Chinese food and talk while Q reviews paperwork he hasn't had chance to get to yet. It's never anything serious, and rarely ever work related. Yet there they sit, simply enjoying each other's company for the pure pleasure of it. It's something neither man thought possible anymore at this point, yet it becomes the unspoken rule at MI6: James Bond, 007 and the Quartermaster, perhaps two of the most lethal people in the world, would tear down the world if anyone tried to get between them, so it's best not to try at all.


End file.
